Naruto and Hinata looked at each other.

They had managed to both arrive early to Team Seven's usual training ground. Between the Festival and Kakashi-sensei training the chunin corps for war, this was the first time they had had team training in months. Naruto had dreaded the meeting, but had been too restless to stay home and had left early. Evidently Hinata had done the same.

Planned or not, in frankness they were due for a confrontation. They needed to continue working as a team, and it had been a month since they had broken up.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto said stiffly. He held his arms tight against his sides.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata replied. She bowed extremely shallowly at him.

Naruto felt the urge to never, ever forgive Hinata for what she had said to him. He was entirely allowed to do so and he was pretty sure it wasn't even that childish. Even though arranged marriages were common, it was normal to want to be the— the main guy. To be the only guy, especially when it came to kids. He couldn't be blamed for holding on to a grudge over being told, hey, surprise, there was going to be another guy butting in on that whole thing, and by the way his kids were always going to be more important than Naruto's.

"I don't hate you," Naruto said instead, and swallowed. "I— The stuff your clan wants you to do, I don't want to be part of. But I'll be your friend."

Hinata bowed her head. "I h-handled it badly. I should have been more c-careful."

About telling him about her betrothal? About getting involved with him in the first place? Naruto was sure she meant both.

He should have been more careful too. Should have remembered that the Hyuuga Clan were a bunch of stuffy nobles with stupid noble opinions. That he wasn't "highborn" enough or something. But he had thought he could make it work—it should work, because wasn't he in possession of a powerful bloodline ability, at least on paper, and didn't people care about that? And it didn't actually matter, as long as he was loyal and true and—

Fuck. Stupid nobility with their stupid rules. He hated it.

"Do you regret it?" Naruto asked. "Our… thing."

"Only the way it ended," Hinata said firmly. Her face was set into a scowl of frustration that Naruto rarely saw.

"It isn't our fault," Naruto said. Because it was true despite not being true and saying it out loud this way made it easier for him to believe it.

Hinata took a deep breath and sighed. "Perhaps."

Well, Naruto didn't really believe it either.

"We should spar," Naruto said. He rubbed at his brow. "It's been a while. I think I'm rusty."

Hinata smiled minutely at him. "Let us spar."

"Begin."

Hanabi's palm strike skimmed past Hinata at a speed far greater than a girl of seven would usually be capable of reaching. But then, Hanabi was not an ordinary girl of seven.

Hinata's slide to the right led her towards the edge of the practice ring. Hanabi chased after her, her opposite palm coming forward to strike at Hinata's chest. The blow missed again as Hinata slid back, heel resting precisely on the chalked circle.

Hanabi scowled and halted. She was too good a fighter to let Hinata draw her out of bounds.

The roles reversed, and now Hinata was on the offensive. Hanabi was faster than Hinata, unerringly deflecting blows that would otherwise have paralyzed the younger girl's limbs. But Hinata had better footwork and reach besides, and Hanabi was forced to give ground lest she be maneuvered into stepping out of bounds.

Then Hanabi stepped too far forwards, attempting a counterattack, and Hinata's foot lashed out to trap her sister's. Forcing the younger girl over took but another moment.

Hanabi hit the ground with a thud, Hinata on top of her.

"Stop," the Hyuuga elder intoned. "The match is forfeit."

Hanabi and Hinata stood frozen, looking at each other.

"By the match rules, only Gentle Fist techniques may be used to force a victory," the Hyuuga elder continued. "Throws are not part of the Gentle Fist repertoire."

Hinata closed her eyes and pulled back, twisting until she was kneeling and facing towards the elder who had spoken. "As you say, honored elder."

Hanabi shuffled herself into a kneeling position as well.

"We will stop here today," said the elder. An attending Branch member helped them to their feet. "Think upon your errors."

Hinata and Hanabi bowed and waited until the elder had left, then got to their feet.

The only way Hinata knew to win the bout was to drive Hanabi into the ground by stopping the chakra flow around her heart. She did not need more strength, no matter what the elders and her father said. She was not about to risk killing her younger sister in a practice match.

"Thank you for the lesson, onee-chan," Hanabi said quietly. Her hands were tightened into fists by her side.

Hinata looked down at Hanabi and held back a sigh. "What is w-wrong, Hanabi-chan?"

Hanabi swallowed and looked away from Hinata. "Nothing."

"Hanabi."

"It is nothing," Hanabi said sharply. She ran a hand through her hair to pull it out of her eyes and started walking away. "I don't want to talk about it."

Hinata frowned and followed. "You should t-talk about it anyway."

"I don't want to."

"Hanabi-chan—"

"Stop it!" Hanabi shouted, whirling to shove Hinata away from her. "Stop! I don't want to talk to you!"

Hinata stumbled back, shocked and hurt. She opened her mouth to say something, but Hanabi had already dashed away.

Ebihara hit the ground with a grunt and snapped her legs out, snatching at Mayako's waist and dragging the other kunoichi down to the ground with her. The resulting scrabble for position was furious, nearly silent, and ended with Ebihara's arms wrapped around Mayako's neck from behind, legs wrapped tightly around the other girl's waist.

Mayako tapped frantically. Ebihara let go.

Sayaka turned to look at Kakashi, who rubbed his nose thoughtfully from where he crouched on a tree branch.

"Not too surprising," Kakashi proclaimed. "A girl in Ebihara's position needs to know certain things. An in-village civilian less so. But Ebihara has no ninjutsu?"

Sayaka looked to Naruto, who shook his head.

"Hmm. Well there's a little time," Kakashi said as Ebihara helped Mayako to her feet. "They'll need a third member in order to be placed together with a sensei, and Ebihara needs to pass Konoha's genin exam. It's… not impossible to do it over the winter."

But it would be extremely difficult. Even if Ebihara was essentially literate, she needed to score at least as well as Naruto in order to pass the written portion. Learning the Substitution, Illusionary Clone, and Transformation techniques was almost easier.

"Mayako also needs to help her mom at the shop," Sayaka said.

The group went silent. There was no way for anyone on Team Seven to help, and Ebihara didn't know anything about clothes.

"Shit, I don't have enough money for Ebihara either," Naruto said suddenly. "I don't have any income except from missions."

Kakashi slowly dropped his head down into his hands. "Really, Naruto?"

"I mean, not if she's going for genin," Naruto said. He scowled. "The Tower didn't flag my income as a problem 'cause they figured she'd be working after her probation, but it's different now right?"

Kakashi's sigh was deep and pained. "Okay. There is a way to fix this."

Naruto chewed on his lip, Sayaka looked down at the ground. Ebihara led Mayako through a demonstration of the chokehold Ebihara had used.

"Okay so, no rent," Naruto said. "I gotta stop paying rent, and I can't just camp out in Grumpy-face's old compound 'cause there'd be too many out-clan for him and he'd get even grumpier. And I'd owe him, which is like, worse."

"I think Danzo-sama would be willing to help you out," Kakashi said. "You should ask him anyway."

Naruto mulled it over. "I guess you're right," he said. "But if I stop paying rent then that's enough for Ebihara to get supplies every month for training and stuff."

"Do you still get an orphan's stipend?" Sayaka asked.

"Yeah, until I hit chunin or turn sixteen, whichever comes first," Naruto said. "So as long as Ebihara starts taking D-ranks soon it'll be fine."

"Okay," said Kakashi, "then Sayaka, you'll have to talk to the Chikurin Clan about sponsoring Mayako. Maybe the Inuzuka as well."

Sayaka sighed. "It's going to be tough. They'll want to know why I want these genin and not someone else."

They looked back towards Ebihara and Mayako. One was an ex-missing-nin born on the run, the other was a random civilian who was trying to get more money to support her family. There was no reason to believe they were useful or important in any way.

"Oh, I got it," Naruto said, smacking the bottom of his fist into his palm. "You uh, you're trying to start doing clan head stuff right? So this is like a practice run getting your vassals in line, or whatever."

Sayaka raised her eyebrows at him. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, clan snobs like to hear that kind of thing," Naruto said. His grin was mischievous and bitter. "Oh it's for the good of the clan, oh I'm trying to be better for the clan, yadda yadda. As long as you don't start believing your own bullshit it's fine."

"I didn't realize you were this ambivalent towards Konoha's clans, Naruto," Kakashi said mildly. "Especially as you've registered as one yourself."

Naruto scoffed. "Takes one to know one, I guess," he said with a glower. He turned back towards Ebihara and Mayako in time to see Mayako trip over herself trying to throw Ebihara to the ground. "I'm not gonna make the same mistakes the Hyuuga and all those other clans make."

"This is about Hinata."

"Of course it's about Hinata-chan," Naruto said scathingly. "I forgive her but her family is full of shit. Pisses me off."

Sayaka and Kakashi exchanged looks and agreed that this was not something they should get involved with.

"I'll talk to the Chikurin Clan about my income," Sayaka said. "We'll figure something out."

Naruto nodded. "Cool. I'll get stuff sorted with Grumpyface."

Kakashi sighed. Precocious children truly were a blessing and a curse.

"This special session is now called to order."

Danzo pushed himself to his feet with a grunt and bowed to the Hokage, along with the rest of the Konoha Grand Council and its spectators. The Council's meeting chamber was an ancient thing, made by the First Hokage personally at Konoha's founding, and made of a great dome of earth so tightly packed that it was like stone. Loops cut out of the ceiling let in light during the day and cramped layers upon layers of privacy seals ensured no sound was let out. The ANBU guarded all approaches when the Council was in session, so that only light came through those loops.

The Council was made up of Konoha's major and minor clans, its artisan guilds, the merchant cooperative, and representatives from the Civilian's Assembly—just over one hundred people all told. Anyone who was invited to watch could do so from the galleries when the Council was in open session, but was expected to stay quiet or be ejected by the ANBU stationed along the chamber's perimeter.

The Hokage waved his hand and the assemblage sat back down. Danzo glanced up at the galleries, which were more heavily filled than usual. Today's council session would be of particular import and all of Konoha's most senior jounin, those in the village at least, had been invited to attend. Kakashi was one such ninja, and he had been asked to bring his team. Team Seven was squashed into a corner close to the Hokage's rostrum, nearly on top of each other on the bench owing to the press of bodies.

Danzo caught Naruto's eye and nodded approvingly. Naruto nodded back. It was important that the young demon container attend this council session.

"Honored council members, I have gathered you here today to discuss a matter of extreme urgency," the Hokage began. "Following general order thirteen, today's discussion is to be considered of military significance and its contents shall not be discussed openly outside of the council chambers."

Danzo took a sip of the tea on his desk as the Hokage looked around the chamber and then scanned the audience for anyone who might not be paying attention. It was not terribly unusual for council sessions to be sealed under general order thirteen, but today's discussion would require special attention to that rule. The scroll in front of each council member, the contents of which came from Danzo and his staff, were immensely sensitive.

"I must unfortunately inform the Council that, over the course of the last three days, Konoha's intelligence division has confirmed that Orochimaru has been recognized by the Daimyo of the Land of Rice Paddies as the Otokage of the Village Hidden in Sound."

The Village Hidden in Sound, Otogakure, was, or had been, a loose conglomeration of mercenary bands and minor clans at best. As far as anyone could tell, there was not actually a centralized village, with missions handled out of outposts at already-established population centers. For it to be recognized by a daimyo as being worthy of a "kage" was either a demonstration of rising power or meaningless posturing. Given the legendary reputation of Orochimaru for his incredible power, it was probably the former.

"The dispersed nature of Otogakure complicates estimation of the number of ninja the village has on hand, and the relationship between Orochimaru and the Rice Daimyo is not fully understood," the Hokage continued. "However, Orochimaru's antipathy towards Konoha is well known, as is the cleverness of his tongue. We must expect, as a consequence, that the Rice Daimyo will soon become hostile to the Land of Fire. It is the belief of myself and my advisors that Konoha must begin to prepare for war."

There was a long pause.

"I open the table to questions," the Hokage said.

"Is the Land of Rice Fields prepared for war?" Jiro of the Yakushiji clan asked. His was a young clan, small but shrewd. "It is small, and while wealthy for its size it is still small. It cannot have the resources Fire does."

"It does not need to be prepared for war, with the reduction in our shinobi forces," said Renya of the Ogata. The old war hawk was severely dressed with a sharply shaved topknot and dark kimono robes. "Had we approved the legislation for expanded recruitment after the Kyuubi attack, this wouldn't be an issue."

Danzo had written that particular piece of legislation. "While I obviously appreciate the honored councilman's position, let us remember that a war is fought with ashigaru and samurai as well, not just ninja," he said. He laced his fingers over his staff. "The economic relief measures passed in place of the recruitment plan have proven effective as well. We should not underrate the wealth of the village, and of Fire Country in general."

He privately would not fully agree with his own statement, of course. Wealth only got you so far—you couldn't buy a loyal, fully trained genin, after all. But the faster graduation rate would have only generated a generation or two more of genin, and low-ranked missions did not make that much money. He was not so proud as to deny evidence staring him in the face.

"The Land of Fire can levy more ashigaru and more samurai, this is true," said Iori of the Gouto. She led a small clan of infiltrator specialists that was strictly matrilineal. "The Land of Rice Paddies would need to ally with one of our enemies in order to gain something from war."

"Luckily for them, there are many to choose from," Nara Shikaku said dryly. "None of them are particularly desperate, except Wind."

There was another pause.

"Intelligence would agree that Wind is the most likely," Danzo said, reading off of a note on his desk. "The Land of Rivers is an ambivalent neighbor at best, and has fought against us in the past. They may be too cautious to join openly, but may allow passage through their territory."

"All of our neighbors are ambivalent," said Nenji of the Fuyusaka. A minor clan better known for their silk than their ninja, though the Silkworm Summons were not to be trifled with. "The question is economically, who can sustain a war the most easily?"

"Lightning and Earth Countries, of course."

"So why not them?"

"Lightning would just occupy the Land of Rice Paddies in the aftermath, or at least extract what would effectively be vassalship enforced by the sword," Danzo said. "Earth, meanwhile, is happy enough to let others kill each other for the moment. It is easily defensible and the Fourth Hokage was able to destroy their army in the last war. They are still rebuilding, even if they have the wealth."

"So if there is to be war, it will come from two sides," the Hokage said. He heaved a long sigh. "The aim will be to take lands and subjugate the people. The breadth of the fighting will stretch us very thin."

"Moving our chunin out of home roles and into the field, in accordance with the expanded recruitment plan, will mitigate some of this, but we cannot avoid buying swords for this war," Shikaku said mildly. Danzo suppressed a flash of outrage—the Nara Head was not exactly wrong, even if Danzo disliked the idea.

"You cannot be serious," Ei of the Morimura protested. One of the younger clan heads, but the pedigree of the Morimura samurai was long and renowned. "The enemy would just pay them to turn on us!"

"Well, we should figure out what we can spend then," said Shikaku with a shrug. "But perhaps we can learn from our enemy?"

Danzo frowned and looked at Hiruzen.

"What are you proposing, Nara-sama?" the Hokage asked, leaning forward.

"Konoha has historically made a point of recruiting its captured enemies," Shikaku said. "This is of course usually only feasible for genin. Otogakure demonstrates that even a loose confederation of mercenary bands may work together for a common interest. What precludes Konoha from doing the same?"

"The common interest of mercenaries is profit," Morimura Ei said scornfully. "Konoha's ninja and samurai are above such petty things. Our loyalty is not bought the way a missing-nin's is."

"Honored councilman, perhaps you are unfamiliar with the sting of poverty," Kenji of the Kitamura said sardonically. "However, my family supports wards who have yet to regularly afford food. Yet with even these meager provisions, I have no doubt that my people would never betray me."

Danzo thought Morimura Ei had rather a lot to say about the foolishness of that attitude. "It is dependent on the circumstances of the missing-nin," Danzo said. "The Uzumaki Clan has shown us that even a ninja whose parents were killed by Konoha may prove themselves loyal. With your permission, Hokage-sama, I would invite the Uzumaki Clan head to speak on the matter."

Naruto was giving Danzo a look of utter horror. "My permission is granted," the Hokage said. "The floor is given to Uzumaki-sama."

Sayaka discreetly kicked Naruto in the shins to make him stand up. Danzo thought he looked surprisingly calm given the suddenness of being asked to speak publicly.

"H-honored council members," Naruto stuttered. "I um—it is true that um, the w-ward I have taken is loyal to Konoha. And that her parents were killed by a Konoha jounin."

"Which Konoha jounin?" asked Ei.

"I'm not sure, sir," said Naruto.

"Why not?"

"'Cause it's her business and not mine," Naruto said simply. He cleared his throat. "I respect her privacy on that sort of thing."

"How can you verify—"

"Ebihara-c— san was Mind Walked by a member of the Yamanaka Clan," Naruto said swiftly, looking offended. Danzo would be too, if someone impugned his honor in the open like that. "There's nobody in the world better to confirm that she means Konoha no harm. Seeing as that's the case, there's no reason for me to pry more than she wants me to. Ebihara was a missing-nin 'cause she didn't think she could do any better and the merc group she was with kept her sort of safe. I think Shi— Nara-sama and Shimura-sama are right: some missing-nin are literally only in it for the money, but a lot of them don't think there's anything else they can do. What they want is to be safe and not worry about being blown up and have food every day whenever they want it. If Konoha can give them something like that then they're going to take it."

"Thank you Uzumaki-sama," the Hokage said before another round of questions could start. Naruto sat down, looking relieved. "We need not make a decision on this now, honored council members, but I think we have enough evidence that the idea should be considered. The expanded recruitment plan proposed after the Kyuubi attack will require modification to account for the intervening years since it was first written. Let us turn our attention to that."

"With regard to home roles, why are chunin used for such matters?" Ogata Renya asked. "The Ogata have asked in the past why ashigaru, or indeed civilians, could not fulfill such roles."

"Traditionally, the village has relied on the relative experience of chunin to understand intuitively how to ensure such roles are fulfilled efficiently," the Hokage answered. "The importance of such experience has not changed since then."

"With respect, Lord Hokage, while my clan has respected this opinion, the present circumstances make such reliance on experience impossible to sustain," Renya said. "Some chunin in a supervisory or coordinating role are irreplaceable, but surely the more mundane tasks may be handled by anyone capable of speech and basic literacy? A merchant family has many such persons, and would be able to handle the logistics of supply transport without an extraordinary amount of additional training."

"While such things are true," said the head of the merchant's union, Izumi Junichiro, "the merchant's union must ask if it is truly the case that war is genuinely inevitable. While Orochimaru's hatred for Konoha is well known, would it not be possible to appease Wind through other means?"

"The Land of Wind has always had trouble feeding its citizens, even with the extensive public works it has worked hard to develop and maintain," Shikaku said. "As a member of the team which severely damaged those works in the previous war, I would say they are likely literally hungry for new land."

The council chamber paused to think this over.

Danzo grimaced and glanced at Hiruzen again. His old friend had the look in his eye that Danzo had seen before—he had told Danzo hadn't he? That not seeking reparations and helping rebuild would be critical for future peace? And nobody had believed him, and now here they were again.

Danzo could not understand how they were to have done right by their own people, and certainly the Fire Daimyo had been tied down by his own political concerns at the time. Konoha were not the only ones hurt by the war, and if anything Konoha had gotten by without any real damage to the city. The border towns and the people who lived there had been hurt the most—banditry had become the only way many could survive, if only because killing each other for food meant that there were fewer mouths at the end of the day.

It was why Danzo had ultimately not been bothered by his recruitment plan being defeated. Konoha's prosperity would hopefully help the rest of Fire Country prosper, and it seemed to be doing some good rather than none.

"This is a matter for the Fire Daimyo," said the Hokage. "Authority is not given to this council to parlay with the Land of Wind. We can only give him what knowledge we have on the matter. In the meantime, we must prepare for the possibility that attempts at reconciliation fail. The merchant's union is asked to begin discussions with Logistics and Supply in order to begin augmenting their capabilities."

The head of the merchant's union looked pained, as if he anticipated a very angry argument, but bowed in acquiescence. "As you wish, Hokage-sama."

"Very good, my thanks. Now, this notion of using civilians with minimal training to allow more ninja to work in the field is an interesting one. Councilman Ogata, as you have proposed the idea, I would ask that you begin work with my advisors to determine which departments can benefit from this approach and what ways they would benefit."

Ogata Renya bowed deeply. "It is my honor to serve, Hokage-sama."

"Very good, my thanks. Turning now to other matters…"

Naruto ended up buying the previous iteration of the local branch of the Fire Temple as his clan estate. The monks had moved to the in-village shrine many years ago, citing the need to be closer to where they could do the most good.

Privately, Naruto figured they were in it because they got more donations that way.

The shrine was built as a miniature temple, with a small cloister for the monks and priests but dominated by the Sage's Residence, a vast ceremonial hall that was supposed to be where the Sage's spirit could rest if it visited. The building was three levels tall and made of wood, with its lower levels devoted to storing offerings—removed now of course—and its highest level holding the Sage's bedchamber. Of course, the bedchamber had been packed up by the priests and its furnishings moved into Konoha with the appropriate ritual and reverence, so neither the building nor the land was considered sacred anymore. The Residence was accessed by a grand staircase, itself once sealed behind gates and a wall, and the gate was accessible only through the Lecture Hall, where the priests had delivered sermons on the Sage's teachings or led the acolytes in meditation.

For most people, the old shrine was utterly useless. It had been placed in such a way as to be enclosed from the outside world and had a good supply of water, but it had inadequate land to support more than a kitchen garden and the ground was rocky and infertile besides. Nobody was particularly enthused by the notion of knocking down the buildings either, worried that the Sage's spirit might still wish to live in its old Residence.

Naruto had no such worries, partly because he was an idiot, and partly because he was confident that the Sage would have been perfectly happy for two orphans and a displaced water spirit to take up residence in the cloister. He would probably be very less enthused, of course, by what Naruto was doing in the old Residence, but Naruto also figured that it had been almost half a decade, and the Sage would have forgotten about the place by now.

The scene of Naruto's heresy was lit by lanterns hung among the eaves. The light of the lanterns fell upon a cask of sake standing within a circle of nine candles, connected by lines of blood. The blood had come from a deer that Naruto had caught that evening and the cask had been purchased with some of the money left over from buying the shrine. Naruto had not snuck a drink from it this time—the cask was sealed with wax and he had no doubt the Kyuubi would notice. Besides, Naruto had his own bottle waiting back in the cloisters.

Naruto knelt on the edge of the circle, just keeping his knees out of the line of deer blood. He had been slowly getting over his whole thing with blood and had put the lines down himself. It had been a bit of an adventure, as the deer needed to be wrangled back to the shrine alive so that he could slit its throat and collect its blood.

Ebihara had been very confused why he hadn't just killed it in the forest, but she had been a missing-nin and was used to respecting other ninjas' secrets. She had simply helped hold the deer still while Naruto collected the blood in a pail and salted it to keep it from coagulating, then set about butchering the deer without asking any questions.

"You're sure this is how it goes?" Naruto asked Kazuko. He held a kunai in one hand and had the other clenched tightly into a nervous fist.

Kazuko, who was keeping watch from the door to the lecture hall, nodded and rubbed her palms against her kimono. "It's a standard offering to spirits. His Lordship will appreciate it, if nothing else."

"It's just, you're telling me to stab myself in the hand."

"Yes, well, it's the most powerful version of the ritual," Kazuko said. "You wouldn't expect me to just believe you if you promised offerings and a place to stay in return for protection, right? And it's at great personal expense to me, I might die. So you better do something to show how serious you are."

"Yeah but the Fuzzball already has a place to stay," Naruto groused.

"It's the principle of the thing," Kazuko replied. She sighed. "It's about respect and honor, Naruto-san. Neither of us want to be under His Lordship's service but because you're stupid and I died, we're stuck sucking up to him."

Naruto sucked in a long breath, then sighed. "Fine."

He opened his palm and laid the kunai into it. His skin tingled under the edge. With a grunt, Naruto forced the blade in, then drew it sharply across to tear open his hand. Blood ran down his hand and dripped onto the line of deer blood between the candles.

"Oh Kyuubi-sama, Lord and Master of Fire," Naruto recited, voice shaking only a little. "Your humble and obedient servant comes before you seeking blessings of protection. My home lies defenseless against those who seek to destroy it. Those who I have myself sworn to protect have only my hands, meager as they are, to ensure their safety. Oh Kyuubi-sama, knowing as I do my own weakness, I beseech you to grant upon me the protection of your spirit. May your fires burn those with ill-will towards my home, so that their deaths may prove a warning that my walls are not to be disturbed and that attacks and violations against me and my own will not be tolerated. This I ask, oh Kyuubi-sama, and give thanks to whatever blessings you may wish to bestow."

Naruto had not really expected much of anything to happen. He had sort of expected that he would need to extend the Kyuubi's power out to burn the cask of sake himself. Instead, the candles all burst into flame, turning into pillars of fire that made Naruto flinch. The circle of blood glowed brightly before the light poured out of it, draining from each candle in a straight line to the cask of sake, which they lit up as if it had caught fire from within.

There was a pause, then a bright flash. Naruto felt a wave of… of something pass over his skin, making the hair all over his body stand on end. The sake cask was gone, and the blood had scorched black lines into the wood floor of the hall. The candles had been burned away as well.

"…did it work?" Naruto asked. His palm had healed itself, apparently as part of the completion of the ritual.

Kazuko breathed in, her eyes closed, then breathed back out.

"It did," she said. "I can smell the wards. We're under His Lordship's protection now."

Naruto sighed. "Alright, cool. Let's go cook some deer meat then."

Winter washed the world in white and made it harder to have dates with Kiba. Mostly because it was hard to wander into a forest where nobody could see. Instead, Kiba and Akamaru had taken to coming over to Sayaka's apartment, which was on the one hand nice and on the other hand meant that Hiroyo was more often than not around, which in Sayaka's opinion was a huge damper on the atmosphere.

Going to the Inuzuka compound was worse. The number of people and dogs cooped up indoors meant it was basically impossible not to get stepped on. And there had been the time that Sayaka had found one of Kiba's cousins having sex when she had gone to look for the bathroom. It made Sayaka worry about whether or not the seating cushions got cleaned.

So Sayaka's apartment it was, and ultimately it wasn't so bad. Kiba was a far more tactile person than Sayaka was, needed more contact and touches, and Sayaka was full of Uchiha reserve. It wasn't so bad though, the way Kiba wanted to be in her personal space and Akamaru curled up in her lap. If she was condescending about it, she'd say that being with Kiba was not unlike being with a particularly large and relatively well-behaved puppy.

One that she kissed, occasionally.

"I'm home!"

Sayaka and Kiba flinched and scrambled back into a non-incriminating position around the kotatsu. Sayaka quickly wiped her mouth and rolled the scroll she'd been reading back to her last place. Shit, had she really made that little progress?

Akamaru rolled his eyes as he crawled back into her lap from where he had slid under the kotatsu. Really, he seemed to say, who did she think she was fooling? Hiroyo would notice.

Sayaka glared at him. She refused to accept defeat like that.

Hiroyo looked into the living room and her expression slid into unamused disapproval. "Really you two?"

Sayaka groaned and leaned over until her forehead thunked into the scroll. Kiba radiated discomfort.

"I suppose I should be thankful," Hiroyo muttered. Sayaka heard a thud on the counter that she was pretty sure corresponded to a particularly large fish. "Don't start rebuilding the clan before you're sixteen, Sayaka."

Sayaka felt her face flush crimson. "Hiroyo. Why."

"Please, I remember being in love," Hiroyo said unrepentantly. "Honestly it wouldn't even be a big deal if you weren't a ninja. A kunoichi must establish herself before making a home, if only for honor's sake."

Akamaru yipped, vindicated.

"Shut up, Akamaru."

"Anyway, come help me with dinner," Hiroyo said. "Kiba-kun, you're staying yes? They were selling yellowtail at the market today, I got a good deal. You enjoy the fried skeleton, if I recall correctly?"

Sayaka turned her head to look at Kiba. His face had lit up into a grin. "Of course Hiroyo-san! Fried skeletons are definitely the best!"

"You know normally people only eat fried anchovy skeletons," Sayaka said. "Or horse mackerel, I guess."

"Yeah but the big bones are fun to chew," said Kiba. He reached out to squeeze Sayaka's hand, and Sayaka knew he just did it out of habit even if it made her heart jump. "I should ask Mom to show you how the Inuzuka roast lamb shanks—the marrow's amazing and the bones are great to chew on."

Sayaka laughed at the absurdity. "Seriously, Kiba, do you guys really have to lean into the whole dog-clan thing so hard?"

"It's not our fault that the rest of you guys are so pointlessly stuck up about things," Kiba said, teasing. "Seriously, lamb marrow. You dig it out with a little spoon and then eat it with rice. It's amazing."

"Sayaka!"

Sayaka huffed and pushed herself to her feet. "You'll show me sometime, I'm sure," she said, and pressed a kiss against Kiba's lips. "I better go cook now."

"Let me know if I can help!" Kiba said.

Sayaka smiled and knocked their foreheads together. "Yeah, I will."

Hinata was breathing hard as she shifted her stance wider, sinking deeper into her defensive formation. The fifth trigram of her defense wavered as Neji stepped forward, his attack seeking the weakness of her left side.

She stepped into her weakness, forcing Neji to pivot as she did. Their progression around the practice ring slowly accelerated as Hinata retreated. She was not successfully retaliating, but Neji's expression grew increasingly pinched as Hinata's defense remained immaculate.

The turning point came when Neji grew impatient. He stepped forward too far, overextended his strike, and Hinata's finger slid down his arm as it passed her. He hissed as the muscles seized under the force of her chakra. Hinata's opposite arm snapped forward, blazing with chakra.

Neji snapped a high kick into Hinata's nose, his kick ripping past her hand before she could do anything. She reeled back, blood rushing down her face as Neji stepped forward again, his good arm blazing as it pushed chakra into Hinata's right, then left shoulder. A final kick knocked Hinata backwards out of the ring.

"The victor is Neji," said the Hyuuga elder. Hinata pushed herself to her feet and stepped forward to bow. Neji nodded curtly and turned back towards the edge of the practice ring.

The practice ring was silent. Hinata breathed carefully through her mouth until a healer stepped up to her and began to reset her nose, medical chakra carefully moving it back into place and opening her airway. Hinata waited until the healer stepped away to speak.

"Neji-nii-san," she said quietly. Her voice was loud in the silence of the training field.

Neji stopped, then turned to face her. "Honored Heir."

"It is customary," Hinata said, "to bow to a defeated opponent as a sign of respect."

Her cousin's eyes narrowed. They stared at each other. It probably was not a long moment, but it felt like an entire year to Hinata.

Then Neji bowed, as if he was being dragged to the earth by a force beyond his ability to resist, until he was at a respectful angle. The force released him, and he jerked back upright.

"Thank you for the match, Nii-san," Hinata said. Neji said nothing, glaring at her, before whirling away.

The practice ring returned to silence.

There was someone in front of the Uzumaki Compound.

Naruto had just gotten home with Ebihara and Kazuko after a day of training for Ebihara and wrangling of clan matters for Naruto. Kazuko had simply refused to be left at home, bored. It was late, with the sun long set, and they had been making dinner when someone had knocked on the compound gates. They had not been expecting any visitors.

Naruto eased open the gate and stuck his head through the crack. "Hello?"

A fox sat on the snowy ground in front of the gate, illuminated by the moon.

Naruto considered this situation.

"Hello?" he addressed the fox. "Did you knock on the door?"

The fox laughed, a high, yelping thing, and inclined its head. "Hail, lord of this manor," the fox said. "This humble kitsune greets you and asks if there is room at your table for a guest this evening. I have heard tell of your power and traveled far to see you."

His power huh? The only thing Naruto had really done recently was put up the ward using the tribute of sake to the Kyuubi. Kazuko had said she could smell the wards, and a talking fox meant Naruto was dealing with another spirit. He suspected, then, that the fox spirit had smelled the ward going up and come to take a look.

Naruto stepped outside, closing the gate behind him, and crossed his arms. "Foxes are pretty rare around here," he said. "The Kyuubi made them pretty unpopular. You've either traveled very far or aren't a fox at all, and I've heard much about the tricks of spirits."

The fox laughed and waved its tail. "Such distrust! Such suspicion! Is that any way to treat a traveler? A good host offers their home without so many questions!"

"Ah, that's probably true," Naruto agreed, nodding. "Unfortunately, I'm an orphan, and have no parents to teach me such things, and so I'll be as rude as I feel I ought to be, as I have people to protect and a home I made at great expense."

The fox cackled, rolling on the ground in good humor. It laughed for a long time and then stood up in the form of a very pretty girl, dressed in a white silk kimono, her hair long and shimmering red and her eyes brilliant amber.

"I can be one of those people for you to protect, your lordship," the fox said, stepping close to Naruto and batting her eyelashes flirtatiously. This close, Naruto could see the points of her canines. She smiled, and Naruto saw how very long those canines were. "A girl like me needs a place to stay at night, you know."

Naruto swallowed and stepped back. Too slowly, because the fox slung her arms around his neck, pressing herself against his body. He could feel her breath tickle his nose.

"It's cold, your lordship," the fox breathed. "Let me keep you warm tonight."

Naruto placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed backwards, aggressively ignoring the way his heart thundered in his chest. "This is not the thing I need," he said, "though I am flattered by your interest."

The fox changed form again, turning from a girl into a boy under Naruto's hands. Hair shorter now but still the same shimmering red and eyes the same brilliant amber.

"Do you like boys instead, your lordship?" the fox asked, and Naruto felt a shiver go down his spine when the fox licked his lips and his fangs gleamed in the dark. "I'm quite happy to be one for you, if you want."

"No," Naruto said, still pushing back. "I am happy to offer dinner, but only to someone I can trust. Give me a token of your trustworthiness, so that I know you will do me and mine no harm, and I will invite you in. None of this–" Naruto gestured at the attempted seduction"—will persuade me."

The fox stilled and for a second Naruto thought he was about to be attacked. Then the fox laughed and spun away, wheezing and almost keeling over in their laughter.

"Alright, alright, you've got me, your lordship, I give," the fox said. Still in the shape of a boy, the fox pushed themselves upright and sighed, wiping at their eyes. "Hoo, and here I thought I'd get to eat you. Very well! Because you're so very honorable, I've decided that I'll trust you a little. Here!"

The fox thrust a ball into Naruto's hands. It was a bright, silvery thing, glowing in the night, and warm as a bowl of fresh miso soup, yet light and fragile as a paper lantern.

"This is my most treasured possession," the fox said gravely. "You may hold on to it while we eat. If I do not prove worthy of trust and bring harm or misfortune upon you tonight, then smash it between your palms, and I will be banished for ten thousand years."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the fox. "Wait here. I need to ask the others about whether or not they trust you about this."

The fox looked dismayed as Naruto slipped back into the compound, but didn't move. Naruto came back a moment later, with Kazuko.

"Hail, sister," the fox said, fixing its eyes on Kazuko. "To think I did not smell you on his lordship."

"His lordship stinks, as all humans do," Kazuko replied. Naruto scowled at her and the fox laughed.

"Indeed, indeed!" the fox said, delighted. "And you are the one who will say whether I can be trusted? I am in your hands, sister."

Kazuko hummed. "Until now you have not given a name," she said. "How can we trust you without a name?"

The fox stilled and shifted from foot to foot. "Do you really need such a thing, sister?"

"I do," said Kazuko.

The fox sighed and worried at the sleeves of his kimono and finally said: "I am the fox of the northern fields, who runs along the creek by the bamboo grove, and who lives among the eyes of the Hyuuga and yet is not seen by them. You may call me Takenoko."

Kazuko nodded. "Very well, Takenoko-san. We now know your name and are in possession of your foxfire. Know then that should you bring us to harm, your fire is forfeit and the great spirits of old will banish your soul from this world for ten thousand years."

Takenoko the Fox bit his lip and hopped from one foot to another in agitation. His tail slipped out from underneath his kimono hem. "Yes, yes, very well! I, Takenoko, submit to these conditions! Jeez!"

Naruto couldn't help but laugh as he pulled the gate open to invite Takenoko in. "Come on Takenoko, we got udon tonight. Foxes like udon right?"

"Yes!" Takenoko said, and hurried in through the gates. "Udon!"

"Okay, and now you just need to pull."

Sayaka rotated about her center and whipped the kanabo forward. It clanged against the side of the training post and bounced off, wobbling lazily.

Sayaka frowned.

"Yosh! You picked that up very quickly!" Lee cheered from atop the training post, where he was doing upside-down pushups. "Congratulations Sayaka-san!"

"And from here it's just practice," Tenten said. She slapped Sayaka on the back companionably. Sayaka stumbled and coughed. "Oh, sorry. But yeah, it's just getting used to the motion and building strength."

Sayaka nodded, looking at the length of wire she was holding and rubbing it in her fingers. "Thank you, Tenten-san, for teaching me."

"No trouble," Tenten said brightly. "Besides, you're the one doing the both of us a favor with this training session."

Sayaka huffed and tugged at the kanabo, channeling chakra down the wire to reinforce it. The weapon arced anemically to clatter next to Sayaka's feet.

"Perhaps," she said. It wasn't completely wrong—being friends with a clan heir was always useful, socially and materially. "Lee-san, are you ready for our spar?"

"Just a minute Sayaka-san!" Lee called back. "I must complete fifty-seven more pushups and then we may begin!"

Gods, what a monster. Sayaka almost didn't believe that a body which could recover that quickly existed.

"Are you still working on that kunai explosion technique?" Tenten asked while they watched Lee do his pushups.

"Yes," Sayaka said. She coiled up the wire and stashed it into her pouch. "I don't think it will work—the entire wire always goes off."

"Hmm. Still pretty useful though," Tenten opined thoughtfully. "You could wrap up an enemy in wire and then set the wire off. It'd probably kill them horribly."

Sayaka nodded. "It shreds targets very nicely. It is very expensive though, because of the cost of ninja wire. I go through a lot very quickly."

Tenten clicked her tongue. "Yeah, I feel that pain. Have you tried it with something cheaper to see if it still works? Do they make chakra-conductive string?"

"I'm not sure," Sayaka said. She doubted it—if chakra-conductive string existed surely everyone would use that instead? It would be far cheaper. Though, most wire techniques depended on the durability of the metal to work…

"Sealing supply stores might have something," Tenten suggested. "Big seal arrays can be really tedious to set up, so they might have something for that. Actually, do you think if you just soaked a string in ink?"

Sayaka frowned. "It would be stupid if that worked."

"If it works it's not stupid," Tenten replied as Lee finished his last pushup. "We should try it next time."

Sayaka nodded as Lee flipped off the training post. It would really be something if it worked.

"Yosh! Sayaka-san, I am ready!"

But first, she had a spar.

It had taken a little time to get all the supplies and figure out what actually needed to be done, but once Naruto had been ready, his shadow clones made renovations of the old temple cloisters very fast. Even in the depths of winter, when the days were so cold that blinking froze Naruto's tears to his eyelashes, the cloisters were always warm.

"Do you want to be part of the clan?" Naruto asked Ebihara one evening after dinner. He and Ebihara were seated next to the hearth installed in the cloisters' common area.

Ebihara blinked at him. "I can be part of the clan?"

"I can adopt whoever I want," Naruto said. "It says so in the clan laws. So do you want to join?"

"Uh," Ebihara said, and swallowed. "Uh. If. If that's okay?"

"Yeah sure, here," Naruto said. He pulled a scroll out of his sleeve and scooted around the fire to hand it to her. "Just need some blood and your name in the clan register."

"No wait, hold on," Ebihara said. She pressed her hands together, then wiped her palms on her clothes. "Hold on. Why?"

Naruto cocked his head. "We've been living in the same compound for weeks without killing each other. The Yamanaka clan has said that you're not going to commit treason, and you help me with those rituals without asking any questions. It's obvious I can trust you, why wouldn't I ask you to join the clan?"

"Okay…" Ebihara said slowly. "There has to be something else. People don't just… do that."

Naruto sighed. "Yeah well. I guess the Uzumaki are a small clan, so more people is always good. And the Hokage's making that missing-nin recruitment thing official, and I want to grab as many as I can because we really need the money. So if that makes you feel better, those are also real reasons. But I mostly just thought it was stupid not to, because I trust you and being alone is shitty."

"It's not really 'alone' when I live in the compound," Ebihara pointed out.

"You know what I mean."

Ebihara looked away, frowning. "I guess."

They were silent for a moment.

"So you wanna do it, or…?"

Ebihara sighed. "Yeah. Let me sign that scroll."

Hinata's breath came hard and fast. Her heart rattled inside her chest. Across from her, her father glared down at her.

"Begin," said one of the Hyuuga elders.

Hinata ducked and slid towards the inside of her father's guard. He threw her back with greater reach and greater force. The chakra pulses of the Gentle Fist were absent, too cruel even for his cold heart.

"Too timid," Hiashi said as Hinata stumbled to her feet. "Again."

Hinata widened her stance and deflected one strike before taking another to the chest. She staggered, but stayed upright and deflected the one that followed. The third hit slammed into her arm, smacking it back into Hinata's nose. She flinched from the blow and missed the fourth strike, which sent her back into the mat.

"On your feet, child," Hiashi said. Hinata pushed herself up, blood dripping down her front. "Defense is temporary, you must retaliate. Again!"

Hinata grimaced and stepped sideways, circling to avoid her father's hands. They struck in straight lines, the most basic form of the Gentle Fist, because he did not expect too much out of her. It was only a small challenge, a tiny thing, a minor expectation that Hinata was not meeting.

Hiashi pivoted, hands blindingly fast, a true master of his art, and Hinata slid underneath them to send chakra into the tenketsu and the joints of first the left and then the right. Hiashi's foot lashed out, his pace gentle as if merely meditating through motion, and Hinata shot her hands up to block it. The sheer force pushed her sideways, left her vulnerable, and she went down again.

"Inaccurate," Hiashi proclaimed. "Your bursts were slow. Why? You are capable of better; I have seen it in practice. Again!"

Hinata stumbled back, clawing for space, stepping back and then around and then back again, and she lasted for twenty strikes before going down a fourth time. Hinata stood back up again. Hiashi attacked again.

"This is inadequate," Hiashi said, his disdain a sharp thing that burned through Hinata's chest. His palm crashed into her and the pain crackled through her ribs, leaving behind a pool of fire that throbbed with her racing heart. "Is this the extent of what the heir to the Hyuuga is capable of?"

Hinata stumbled and caught herself and tried to breathe through the pain. Each breath seemed to spread the fire until it felt like her entire body was being scorched in a bonfire. She was still bleeding, her blood mixing with the sweat that was soaking her collar. Another hand swept towards her.

"Get up," Hiashi said. Hinata's breath rattled around in her chest from where she knelt on her hands and knees, pooling blood gurgling in her sinuses. She hung her head and watched a stream of crimson puddle onto the ground in front of her, then took another breath. Better, for now.

"Are you stupid, child?" Hiashi asked scornfully. "I said get up."

Hinata grit her teeth and stood again, shoulders hunched. She wiped blood from her mouth with her sleeve.

"Stand up straight," Hiashi ordered. "You are a Hyuuga. You will not slouch even in pain."

Hinata pressed her lips together and silently corrected her posture. She waited.

"We will go again," Hiashi said. "Your reactions are faster each time, yet you still are timid. Have you learned nothing from these bouts? You must attack!"

Hinata took a breath. The fire in her body hissed.

"I understand," Hinata said quietly.

"Then show it to me," Hiashi said. "We begin!"

Another relentless assault. Another round of deflections and blocks that left Hinata stumbling back before she found her footing. Another careful defense that sheer speed and power was overwhelming.

Another gap in Hinata's guard and her father's palm snapped her head back as it shattered the bridge of her nose.

A clanless ninja would have been blinded, the blow causing swelling and disorientation and a fresh rush of blood that would have inhibited their breathing. The typical following kick to the head would have killed them.

Hinata was the heir to the Hyuuga clan and her hands lanced chakra through the ankle and knee of her father's leg. She heard distantly a gasp of pain as the Byakugan granted her sight of the tenketsu of Hiashi's chakra system. Her hands reached out for the point at the base of the spine, chakra building—

Hiashi twisted, his own chakra bursting out in a swirling dome that lifted Hinata bodily and threw her away from him. She landed hard, the wind knocked out of her, and she rolled over to drain blood from her sinuses and gasp desperately around her paralyzed diaphragm.

But Hiashi had collapsed to the ground, surrounded by the clan's healers. Hinata dragged herself to her feet to watch as Hiashi slowly pushed himself upwards until he was standing and staring down at Hinata again. They were silent for several seconds.

"Inelegant, but acceptable," he finally said. "Your instructor is a bad influence. See that you take time to maintain good Hyuuga habits despite this."

Hinata froze her expression and bowed. "Thank you for your instruction, father."

She remained bowed, blood dripping off of her, until her father had departed the training hall. She remained silent while a healer finally tended to her wounds. She left the training hall and returned to her rooms and only when the door was firmly closed behind her did Hinata finally weep.